Partisan filing over, unaffiliated candidates can still apply

By Junious Smith III / Staff writer

Published: Friday, February 28, 2014 at 07:05 PM.

Daughety said he decided to go the route he chose because the people voted for him the first time in this manner.

“As an unaffiliated candidate, my only responsibilities are to the taxpayers,” Daughety said. “I’m excited to see three candidates running for the seat, and I believe in democracy. The people have a choice because of the democratic process, and they decide on who they think will do the best job in all offices.”

Daniel McLawhorn, a Democrat, and Jeni Ackley, a Republican, will challenge Daughety in the Nov. 4 election. Ackley, a Michigan native who spent eight years in the Marines before moving to Lenoir County in 2003, said she received a lot of support and encouragement to run.

“I like to stay active in the community and do volunteer work,” Ackley said. “To me, this would be the next step and a good way for me to make a difference in serving the community.”

On Friday, Lenoir County Commissioner J. Mac Daughety — who will be running as an unaffiliated candidate — came to the Lenoir County Board of Elections to pick up his petition for reelection in District 1.

Other than Daughety, no other candidate came to the Board of Elections, and the deadline for partisan candidates passed AT noon Friday.

Dana King, director of the Lenoir County Board of Elections, said she was surprised how few people filed.

“I didn’t expect such a low turnout, especially not with the seats open on the ballot,” King said. “It took a while to get the seats in the school board filled.”

Due to the low number of candidates, there will be only two local primary races on May 6: one for Lenoir County Sheriff between incumbent Chris Hill and Ronnie Ingram and one for the Board of Education in District 5, where W.D. Anderson looks to unseat current member, C.L. Braxton.

The winners of those races will move onto the November elections.

Daughety is one of three current candidates in Lenoir County running unaffiliated — with sheriff hopeful Ricky Pearson and Board of Education District 1 hopeful Rod Smith — who need four percent of the voting area to petition. While Daughety and Smith need 283 signatures before June 12, Pearson needs 1,557 for the countywide office.

Daughety said he decided to go the route he chose because the people voted for him the first time in this manner.

“As an unaffiliated candidate, my only responsibilities are to the taxpayers,” Daughety said. “I’m excited to see three candidates running for the seat, and I believe in democracy. The people have a choice because of the democratic process, and they decide on who they think will do the best job in all offices.”

Daniel McLawhorn, a Democrat, and Jeni Ackley, a Republican, will challenge Daughety in the Nov. 4 election. Ackley, a Michigan native who spent eight years in the Marines before moving to Lenoir County in 2003, said she received a lot of support and encouragement to run.

“I like to stay active in the community and do volunteer work,” Ackley said. “To me, this would be the next step and a good way for me to make a difference in serving the community.”

Smith, who hails from Pink Hill, graduated from South Lenoir High School and received a degree in education from East Carolina University. He taught for eight years in school systems — including two at South Lenoir — before retiring to work with his father on the family farm.

Smith said he ran unaffiliated because he believed education should be all about students and educators, instead of party affiliations.

“I feel like with me having the experience of teaching in the classrooms, I could help lead Lenoir County schools to one of the best educational platforms in the state,” Smith said. “There’s a lot of potential here, and I believe I can help make the school system great. I don’t have an agenda and I don’t think there is anything wrong with the current system; I just want to come in and try to improve on what’s already been established.”

Keith King, who will go to the November elections unopposed in District 2 of the Lenoir County Board of Education, is a Kinston High School graduate who has been volunteering with the county schools for about 11 years. King said he’s had employees of the Lenoir County school system and board members encouraging him to run.

“I have two children in school, one in North Lenoir, the other at E.B. Frink,” King said. “I’ve watched them grow up in the current school system and I believe in it. My mother also taught for 20 years here, so I saw how hard teachers worked and had a desire for the program. I have conservative values good to the system considering the state of economy and I believe I can work well with the other board members”

In the state races, three candidates will be on the ballot for District 5 in the State Senate on May 6, as incumbent Don Davis looks to ward off Tony Moore and Henry Williams II in the primary race.

Williams, who has run as a state representative once and state senator twice, and also became the first African-American to open a franchise in Baltimore, M.D. with Arundel Ice Cream, said he has worked on Republican task forces with former Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, but changed his political affiliation two years ago.

“I understand how the system works,” Williams said. “A lot needs to be done and politicians don’t need to just hold a position and look out only for themselves. It’s time for an overhaul. I’ve always been involved with the community and organizations, and I’m tired of people not getting a voice to speak in the legislation.”

Junious Smith III can be reached at 252-559-1077 and Junious.Smith@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JuniousSmithIII.

Here is the list of those who have filed for political office in Lenoir, Greene and Jones County. Incumbents are marked with an i: